Kings

A few months ago, I (Tom) was trying to get my older sons Max, Gus and Nate to do something, which I cannot recall. When my kids were slow to get moving, I said to them, “I am the king, you are the knights and…” before I could finish my sentence my daughter Elsa said, “And I am the princess.” That brought joy to my heart and I said, “Yes, Elsa, you are the princess.”

What I had intended to say to my sons and I think eventually did say was that as the knights in the family, their role is to obey the king and follow the orders of the king, which is me and Mia who is the queen.

As a father, I am the king of my house, I am the king of the castle. Every father is a king. Saying I am a king may sound egotistical or prideful, but being a king does not mean we get to tell everyone what to do so that they serve us. Our kingship over our house is not given for that purpose. The purpose of kings is to serve the people under him by bringing order and security to the realm. Under healthy kings, people flourish because his strength brings peace that allows people freedom to work and play. And by serving as king of the house by disciplining my kids and setting rules, I am teaching my kids to live under authority, that it is living under God’s authority that will bring maximum freed.

As a Christian father I am to take Jesus as my role model for kinship. Where is Jesus proclaimed king? He is proclaimed king on the cross, in his ultimate act of service, laying down his life. This must be our model for kingship. We are to use our strength and our authority to serve our family and not so that our family serves us. Recently I heard Perry Noble say, “My employees don’t exist to serve me. We are the Church and in the Church we serve one another.” The same is true for the family.
My role as a father is to see to it that we do serve one another.

Fathers have been given a special place in the family. We are to rule as kings. If we do not embrace that role we do a disservice to our wife and our children. If we fail to rule with servants’ hearts, we fail them as well.

What do you think of looking at the role of father as a king? Do you like it? Or do you find it offensive.